routlaw

An ambitious project! Good luck

Have you @Rivernerd ever considered the system linked below. It's not a hitch mount which personally I don't care for although I do own the original 1UP double hitch rack but rarely if ever use it. The Ride 88 truck bed mounts are really well engineered and made, which assumes you do not object to placing bikes in the truck bed. I prefer it myself. It does take up some storage room and unless you use a soft cover roll up tonneau will not work with most if not all hard tonneaus but can be implemented with topper shells. The system seems to be very reasonably priced too, far less expensive than most hitch mount systems once you factor in the Oliver hitch receiver. We have carried our road bikes and kayaks doubled up in the truck bed for years, but now that we are transitioning to trail/mountain biking the Ride 88 system seems to be the best I've seen yet. https://www.ride88.com/toyota-tundra

Until now I have never heard of nor seen curly cable safety chains. Had to look it up to see WTH this was about. Our Ollie #70 came with traditional linked chains but after implementing the Andersen hitch they were too short. Went to the local farm and ranch supply store to purchase a longer set which ended up being considerably heavier duty and also heavier to boot. A mixed blessing I guess. Really appreciate @topgun2 explanation on why one should cross their cables which makes total sense, but never bothered to investigate the reason.

Love the idea of induction cooktop for a litany of different reasons. As mentioned they are way more energy efficient. A few years ago we incorporated an induction range into our house after having a gas version for decades. Neither of us would ever go back to gas much preferring induction. The amount of control one has over the heating range is on orders of magnitude better and far more precise. It's nearly impossible to turn a gas cooktop down enough for slow simmers or any type of slow cooking too even with the use of diffusers, with induction it is a piece of cake to do this. As someone else mentioned it also provides addition work space when not using the burners, if you could actually call them that. There is no pollutants within the trailer either or our house for that matter, no issues with ignition at cold temps and high altitudes something we constantly encounter. Cutting to the chase I applaud Oliver for providing this feature! The only downside I can think of is the need for "possibly" more Li-ON battery and a large at least 2000 watt inverter, both which adds to the cost of admission for induction, but offset somewhat by fewer propane bottle refills. We look at gas cooktops propane or natural gas is a severely outdated technology, belonging in the 20th century dust bin.

We have run into this issue a few times but only on very rough back country roads, ie BLM or USFS roads. Typically before traveling down these types of roads I will take all 3 off their mounts and lay on the king bed in the back. To my way of thinking the clips seem like a poor connection method for this type of application anyway. Seems to me a better method might be a long run of velcro across the bottom, either that or some extremely strong neodymium magnets. I have seen this type of magnet so strong it's virtually impossible to pull apart. Just a thought or two

Correct the X22 series was discontinued a couple years ago, and seemed to have expanded their lineup since. They now have a Sport, Explore and Outback series both in single axle (X145) and double axle (X195) although they are really not axles in the truest sense of the word. Their claim is to withstand -40º below zero. The day I looked into them it was well into the 90's on an intense sunny day but they felt quite comfortable inside, considerably more so than the Oliver, it was quite obvious. Their options include a massive solar array and battery storage. Had never heard of those batteries and they are technically very different than most others but also extremely expensive. The salesman said you could end up paying $30K + or - just for the solar/battery setup. Too rich for my blood but it was impressive.

Awesome. The only time we have been there was in our younger years with pre-teen daughter tent camping. Loved the park. Wind picked up that night and I swear it was like having a freight train running right through the campground. Wife and I were up in the middle of the night literally holding the tent up from the inside before it came apart. Daughter slept right through the entire thing.

@FloraFauna I do understand your thoughts between the two, Oliver and IO trailers. I was told by our local dealer, yes we have one in Bozeman, that you cannot use a WDH with their trailers but he didn't go into great detail explaining why. Looking at the massive size of the frames though would most likely eliminate most if not all of the WDH on the market. It's interesting most of the photos and videos illustrate half ton pickups towing these things. And on one of their videos a guy explains the issues with a WDH and stress and torque it applies to the ball joint while the CR Master hitch does not do this. Of course none of this addresses the limits of a tow vehicle's hitch weight and load carry capacity. I didn't mind the beds at all, don't carry for the dry flush toilet, love the windows, suspension and just about everything else. They are ugly enough that no one will ever ask for a tour in one though. The off roading is truly what appeals to me and frustrates me about the Oliver. While I have traveled down many BLM and Forest Service roads with our Oliver there is a limit.

To me it’s sort of like comparing apples to oranges with the two. I have never thought of the Base Camp as an off road camper let along an overlander or anything near that. I do agree with many of this guy’s assessments on both though. Clearly Oliver has made many excellent improvements compared to my much older #70 which seems crude in many ways by comparison. But if I were starting over with a new trailer now it would be hands down an Imperial Outdoors. I have been in these campers and absolutely nothing I have ever seen comes close to the build quality or engineering of these off road overlanders. They are not particularly attractive from the outside, the interior however is awesome and well manicured and crafted. https://imperial-outdoors.com

They began production again in 2014. Surprised there was an E2 as far back as 2010 though, don't recall ever hearing about that one.

@Tom and Doreen agreed he knows a lot about this. I would add however on many of the online videos the company has he does state not to ever leave a gray valve open especially if there are flies at the dump. The instruction that come along with any of their products go into great detail about how to deal with gray water too. I see your pic above includes a solution with pine-sol which according to this guy is something one should never use since it will kill the bacteria and or enzymes used to break down the solids. Thanks

Makes sense to me, after all it is dish soap. FWIW I ordered directly from the company.

Hey folks I just came across the company in Arvada, CO that uses some serious science and biology to wastewater treatment, including, black tank, gray tank and what they call galley tanks which I assume to be fresh water tanks. Thought everyone would be interested given this subject has come up numerous times in the past. I put in an order on Friday and it arrived today so customer service so far has been awesome. It will be while before we can put the stuff to a test since our streets are torn up presently and no way to get vehicles in and out of driveway. It's a bummer but also a 1st World Problem. https://uniquecampingmarine.com Below is a rather long video on the subject but informative and worth the time spent IMHO

This subject has come up numerous times on the forum. We never ever drink or even cook from the fresh water holding tank and never will. We do carry BPA free 5 gallon container along which we drink and cook from. Even if you filter the water from the holding tank it has a "plastic" taste which should tell you something. I totally agree with your "adorable" wife too. We also bring along a Brita water pitcher and filter the house water on a trip and try to avoid buying bottled water jugs if at all possible.

Good find @Boilermaker Chemist FWIW the main reason I bought a tank from Costco was due to arrive bad tank swap I received on a trip to Utah some time ago. The swap had a bad valve that leaked profusely but did not realize this until back in Montana. So now I am stuck with a full tank of propane I cannot use and no one will take the errant tank in as a trade or otherwise. Suffice it to say I will never do a tank swap again, and would suggest others to avoid as well.

https://res.cloudinary.com/lci-cloudinary/image/upload/v1734451736/Design Team/Sell Sheets/Lippert_-_Sell_Sheet_-_3000_Series_Windows_OEM_-_2023002334-WEB.pdf Link for somewhat better description of these windows. I have mixed feelings about them myself. Not sure double pane is that big of a deal after years of use. Disappointed they only open 3 inches. The valance thing looks dorky. Always thought the chrome stuff looked tacky so an improvement with the white trim piece. Love the no maintenance of the windows though. The existing windows on the Oliver have always been the bane of ownership to me. Poorly designed and out of date.

Looking at the side profile, they do not look to be double pane.

I thought Upper Lehman was closed this year? Planning on visiting this one soon too.

Just guessing but doubt the state of Wyoming has ever invested in such technology (or ever will), it's also certainly not here in Montana. The thing about Teton Pass as you know it is really steep, narrow and winding. Having gone over it several times myself, but only once towing, it hard to imagine how and where they would have built check stations. They barely have enough pullouts as it is and those are not very large. It has become fairly obvious the state of Colorado is the King and champion of high mountain passes in the lower 48.

Wow! thats quite the road and story on that thread @jd1923 . All this talk about brakes, controllers et al has me wanting to go through my trailer brakes again to make sure they are in good shape. I do feel better with this new truck and its Max Tow Package. Looking at the front and rear rotors they truly look much larger than my older truck which only had the basic tow package. Still some of these roads out west are formidable descents, not to be taken lightly. Regarding Teton Pass, the drop down into Idaho is quite doable which I have also done. As long as your TV can make the climb up the steep ascent from Jackson without overheating the westward descent is not a big deal. The one time I towed going from Jackson to Driggs I had to stop at the pass to allow my F150 to cool down, both engine and transmission. They were getting pretty close to their limits. Grades of 14-18% is off the hook though, never saw that.

Point well taken, and great info. I do run quite a bit lighter than you but still. Presumably the flat was on the Ollie and not your Silverado surely? Scary stuff. Likewise I keep a TPMS on ours too, monitors heat and pressure.

Ah the beauty of a big diesel engine when it comes to engine braking. All that compression truly becomes helpful on these steep descents. A definite disadvantage for gas engines especially the 6 cylinders, turbo boost or not. A couple of years ago I learned this lesson all too well while going over Teton Pass dropping down to Jackson. By the time I was halfway down my then 2013 Ecoboost and Ollie brakes were all smoking. Even 2nd gear was not much use on a 10% grade that runs for about 10 miles. Not something I would ever like to repeat. We were not the only ones that day smoking brakes either. A fifth wheel just in front of us being pulled by a 3/4 ton truck was also in trouble and had to make an emergency pull over. Thus my caution on the Million Dollar Highway.

This is what I keep hearing from some YouTube videos. Might be a better route on my return trip vs on the way south.

Thanks @Mike and Carol all helpful info. When I get down that way just might try both routes just to experience it all. Surprised CO actually plows this route in the winter. Our roughly equivalent Beartooth Highway up in this neck of the woods certainly doesn’t. It’s closed for over half the year. Love Durango, nice town.

You are not the only ones who have opted for the alternate route via 145 for the same reason. I have been to Delores in the past but don't recall the market but will certainly look for it if there again. Have an old forest service friend who lives there too. I understand CO 145 is also very pretty as well.